Smilodon | extinct mammal genus | Britannica.com extinct mammal genus Smilodon, extinct genus of large mammalian carnivores known collectively by the common name sabre-toothed cat . Smilodon belongs to the subfamily Machairodontinae of family Felidae . Sabre-toothed cat (Smilodon) from Rancho La Brea, Calif.; detail of a … Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History, New York A discussion of California fossils—notably those of sabre-toothed tigers and the … Displayed by permission of The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. (A Britannica Publishing Partner) Learn More in these related articles: mammal any member of the group of vertebrate animals in which the young are nourished with milk from special mammary glands of the mother. In addition to these characteristic milk glands, mammals are distinguished by several other unique features. Hair is a typical mammalian feature, although in many... carnivore (mammal order) any member of the mammalian order Carnivora (literally, “flesh devourers” in Latin), comprising more than 270 species.

In a more general sense, a carnivore is any animal (or plant; see carnivorous plant) that eats other animals, as opposed to a herbivore, which eats plants. Although... sabre-toothed cat any of the extinct catlike carnivores belonging to either the extinct family Nimravidae or the subfamily Machairodontinae of the cat family (Felidae). Named for the pair of elongated bladelike canine teeth in their upper jaw, they are often called sabre-toothed tigers or sabre-toothed lions,... 1 Reference found in Britannica Articles Assorted Reference evolution of sabre-toothed cat (in sabre-toothed cat ) External Links Corrections? Updates? Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your feedback. MEDIA FOR: You have successfully emailed this. Error when sending the email. Try again later. Edit Mode Submit Tips For Editing We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Encyclopædia Britannica articles are written in a neutral objective tone for a general audience.

You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered. Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources. At the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context. (Internet URLs are the best.) Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions. Submit Thank You for Your Contribution! Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article. Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed. Uh Oh There was a problem with your submission. Please try again later. Close Date Published: December 23, 2015 URL: Access Date: January 20, 2017 Share Smilodon - definition of smilodon by The Free Dictionary Smilodon - definition of smilodon by The Free Dictionary (smī′lə-dŏn′) n.

Any of various extinct saber-toothed cats of the genus Smilodon, having very long upper canines and widespread in Europe and the Americas during the late Pleistocene Epoch. Also called saber-toothed tiger. [New Latin Smīlodōn, genus name : Greek smīlē, carving knife + -odon .] smilodon (ˈsmɪləˌdɒn) n (Palaeontology) the genus of extinct big cats of the Pleistocene epoch to which the sabre-toothed tiger belongs Prehistoric Oregon Contact Saber Tooth Cats Smilodon (Saber Tooth Cats) often called a saber-toothed cat or incorrectly a saber-toothed tiger, is an extinct genus of machairodonts. This saber-toothed cat was endemic to North and South America, living during the Pleistocene epoch (2.5 mya—10,000 years ago). The nickname “saber-tooth” refers to the extreme length of their maxillary canines.

Despite the colloquial name “saber-toothed tiger”, Smilodon is not a tiger; the latter belongs to subfamily Pantherinae, whereas Smilodon belongs to subfamily Machairodontinae. The name Smilodon comes from Greek: σμίλη, (smilē), “carving knife”[3] + ὀδoύς (odoús), “tooth”, or in the genitive: ὀδoύς, ὀδόντος, odóntos. The genus Smilodon was described by the Danish naturalist and palaeontologist Peter Wilhelm Lund in 1841. He found the fossils of Smilodon populator in caves near the small town of Lagoa Santa, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. A number of Smilodon species have been described, but today usually only three are recognized. Genetic evidence suggests the members of the genus diverged from the main lineage of modern cats (subfamily Felinae) around 14-18 million years ago.

The species of Smilodon were among the largest felids ever to live; the heaviest specimens of the massively built carnivore S. populator may have exceeded 400 kg (880 lb). A fully-grown Smilodon weighed approximately 55 to 360 kg (120 to 790 lb), depending on species. It had a short tail, powerful legs, muscular neck and long canines. Smilodon was more robustly built than any modern cat, comparable to a bear. The lumbar region of the back was proportionally short, and the lower limbs were shortened relative to the upper limbs in comparison with modern pantherine cats, suggesting that Smilodon was not built for speed. The largest species, the South American S. populator, had higher shoulders than hips and a back that sloped downwards, superficially recalling the shape of a hyena, in contrast to the level-backed appearance of S. fatalis, which was more like that of modern cats. However, while its front limbs were relatively long, their proportions were extremely robust and the forearm was shorter relative to the upper arm bone than in modern big cats, and proportionally even shorter than in S. fatalis.

This indicates these front limbs were designed for power rather than fast running, and that S. populator would have had immense strength in its forequarters. Smilodon had relatively shorter and more massive limbs than other felines. It had well developed flexors and extensors in its forepaws, which enabled it to pull down large prey. The back limbs had powerfully built adductor muscles which might have helped the cat’s stability when wrestling with prey. Like most cats, its claws were retractable. These canine teeth were fragile and could not have bitten into bone; thus, these cats did not use their long teeth while taking down prey, due to the risk of breaking them. Only when their prey was totally subdued did they use their teeth to simultaneously sever the blood supply and strangle the windpipe, quickly killing the prey. Despite being more powerfully built than other large cats, Smilodon actually had a weaker bite. Modern big cats have more pronounced zygomatic arches, while Smilodon had smaller zygomatic arches which restricted the thickness and therefore power of the temporalis muscles, and thus reduced Smilodon’s bite force. Analysis of its narrow jaws indicates it could produce a bite only a third as strong as that of a lion.

There seems to a be a general rule that the saber-toothed cats with the largest canines had proportionally weaker bites. However, analyses of canine bending strength (the ability of the canine teeth to resist bending forces without breaking) and bite forces indicate the saber-toothed cats’ teeth were stronger relative to the bite force than those of modern “big cats”. In addition, Smilodon could open its jaws 120 degrees, whereas the lion’s gape is limited to 60 degrees. It has been suggested that Smilodon’s smaller temporalis muscles (controlling much of the bite force) were not used in the killing of prey; rather, Smilodon stretched its jaws around the throat and pressed its canines into the prey with the use of its immense neck and forelimb muscles. The penetration was the result of the neck flexors instead of the jaw muscles, according to this hypothesis. Smilodon probably preyed on a wide variety of large game including bison, tapirs, deer, American camels, horses and ground sloths. As it is known for the saber-toothed cat Homotherium, Smilodon might have also killed juvenile mastodons and mammoths.

Smilodon may also have attacked prehistoric humans, although this is not known for certain. The La Brea tar pits in California trapped hundreds of Smilodon in the tar, possibly as they tried to feed on mammoths already trapped. The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has many of their complete skeletons. Modern big cats kill mainly by crushing the windpipe of their victims, which may take a few minutes. Smilodon’s jaw muscles were probably too weak for this and its long canines and fragile skull would have been vulnerable to snapping in a prolonged struggle or when biting a running prey. Research in 2007 concluded that Smilodon most likely used its great upper-body strength to wrestle prey to the ground, where its long canines could deliver a deep stabbing bite to the throat which would generally cut through the jugular vein and/or the trachea and thus kill the prey very quickly. The leaders of this study also commented to scientific journalists that this technique may have made Smilodon a more efficient killer of large prey than modern lions or tigers, but also made it more dependent on the supply of large animals.

This highly specialized hunting style may have contributed to its extinction, as Smilodon’s cumbersome build and over-sized canines would have made it less efficient at killing smaller, faster prey if the ecosystem changed for any reason. A later study concurred, finding that the forelimbs of Smilodon, more than those of any modern felid, were capable of minimizing the struggles of prey and positioning them for a quick kill with the predator’s canines without them fracturing. It had long been assumed that machairodonts were solitary, but the idea had no foundation or factual basis, though without any suggestion otherwise, it was widely regarded as true for over 150 years. Recently, research upon which African carnivores respond to playback of animals in distress has been used to analyse the finds of animal species and their numbers at the La Brea tar pits. Such playbacks find animal distress calls such as would come from an animal trapped in the tar pit would attract pack hunters such as lions and spotted hyenas, not lone hunters. Given the carnivores found at tar pits were predominately Smilodon and the social dire wolf, this suggests that the former like the latter was also a social animal.

One expert, who found the study convincing, further speculated that if that was the case, then Smilodon’s exaggerated canine teeth might have been used more for social or sexual signaling than hunting. However, the lack of sexual dimorphism in the canine teeth makes this unlikely. One of the most abundant sources of machairodont fossils in one locality is the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. This rich fossil bed was at one time a pool of thick tar, or asphalt, covered by water to form a small lake. When animals took a drink, they occasionally wandered into the lake, as seen in modern species to soothe skin or sometimes to relieve themselves of parasites, but their feet were caught in the tar, and with each step to try to free themselves, with one foot pulled up out of the tar, the other three sank deeper. The pits did not kill an animal immediately. They could remain there for days before they died of starvation or shock. In the meantime, vocalizations and struggling attracted predators to the pits, which got themselves stuck as well. The La Brea tar pits are known as a predator trap for this reason. One stuck bison could attract a multitude of predators before expiring.

In the pits, predators outnumber prey nine to one. The machairodont Smilodon, with 13,000 specimens from some 2,000 individuals recovered, is one of the most abundant fossils in the La Brea tar pits, second to the dire wolf which is represented by 200,000 fossils representing 4,000 individuals. Smilodon was always regarded as a solitary species. The depictions of animals were like vultures to recent carcasses, with lone animals congregating on a kill and fighting over the remains with a gaping show of teeth. The idea that Smilodon lived a solitary life and found a dying animal caught in a tar pit and congregated, one by one, would suggest a very high number of predators in relation to prey. Dinosaurs In Literature, History and Art: Part 2 -Denial Is Not Just A River In Egypt: Suppressed Evidence of Human, Dinosaur and Other "Extinct" Fauna Interaction in First Century Roman, Nilotic Art ....

Page 57 (Part II) Dinosaurs In Literature, History and Art: Part 2 -Denial Is Not Just A River In Egypt: Suppressed Evidence of Human, Dinosaur and Other "Extinct" Fauna Interaction in First Century Roman, Nilotic Art .... Page 57 ) Extinct Fauna on First Century Roman "Palestrina" Mosaic & Other Works? PART I of This Article As we noted in Part 1 of this article, it has turned out to be extremely difficult to obtain detailed, complete or higher resolution images of both the Palestrina Mosaic as well as the works from the House of the Physician at Pompeii. In this part of the article using the resources we have, we will attempt to show that there were a number of fauna represented in first or second century ancient Roman art, including several creatures that we now call dinosaurs. These tentative identifications will be made more difficult by the lower resolutions that we have available to us here at s8int.com. we have only been able to study a sample of the fauna represented o the work. If you have access to exclusive academic sources like JSTOR or MUSE, let us know.

The Nile mosaic of Palestrina is an ancient mosaic depicting the Nile from Ethiopia to the Mediterranean. It is dated to around 100 BCE, and is thought to have been the work of Demetrius the Topographer, a Greek artist from Ptolemaic Egypt who visited Rome. The mosaic is located in the city of Palestrina. It contains detailed depictions of Ptolemaic greeks, black Ethiopians in hunting scenes, and various animals of the Nile river. Wikipedia References:Finley, The Light of the Past, 1965, p93. In this detail, we've circled some of the fauna we're going to highlight in this part of our article....s8int.com Readers will of course be free to decide for themselves whether or not we�ve been able to make correct observations. Of course we could be wrong about all of them. �Science� would claim that all the dry land creatures are actually crocodiles just as dead sea monster identifications are basking sharks. Those evolutionary believers down at the bottom of the �food chain� will likely agree. Perhaps they are correct.

However, remember that science also told us that there were primitive "cavemen" called Neanderthal man and the slightly less primitive caveman, Cro-Magnon. These fables and images have permeated our culture for over 100 years. In order to preserve and promote evolutionary theories of man, as recently as this year science has insisted that Neanderthal; could not speak but could only grunt not having a language, never mated with �modern� man, (but may have mated with apes) did not bury their dead etc, etc. In November of this year, scientists were able to sequence the DNA of a man they called a �Neanderthal�. His DNA turned out to match �modern humans� to 99.99%. Everyone living today has DNA that matches other humans to 99.99%. This means that your DNA is as close to Neanderthals as it is to Richard Dawkins', the famous evolutionist at Harvard. Exit caveman. Oh, and what about the "Gap theorists".

This is a group of Christians so distressed about what science said about primitive man that they invented pre-adamic races to account for "cave men", doubting the Bible from the first chapter of Genesis, it's first book? No doubt they will cling to the Gap theory just as evolutionists will cling to evolution and to cave men. We know that no matter how much evidence is provided, "rationalists" and evolutionists will refuse to accept the evidence of their own eyes. Romans 1 says that what may be known about God is from evidence that can be "seen". Denial is not just a river... Science was wrong about Neanderthal. Maybe science is wrong about dinosaurs and when they lived as well. Palestrina Mosaic Dinosaurs? Iguanodon? See top photo for location on mosaic under the tiger representation. Click and drag photo to resize. Several years ago, we came across an image of the Palestrina Mosaic in used book store in a book entitled "The Light of the Past", by Finley. In that one book we found several things that shouldn't be there if the evolution paradigm were true. We found evidence that ancient man had lived with dinosaurs.

As it turns out, the high resolution portion of the mosaic featured in that book represented only a small portion of the complete mosaic. Just off to the left of the "dinosaur" being hunted that we featured on the first page of this section was another dinosaur representation we had not seen. Iguanodon. Click and drag photo to resize. We believe it represents a dinosaur similar to iguanodon. We regret that we don't have a higher resolution photo of this section of the mosaic. It appears here after having tried several filters to make it appear as clearly as possible. Iguanodon according to science "(meaning "Iguana tooth") is the name given to a genus of ornithopod dinosaurs, which lived roughly halfway between the early hypsilophodontids and their ultimate culmination in the duck-billed dinosaurs. They lived between 120 to 140 million years ago, in the Barremian to Valanginian ages of the Early Cretaceous Period, although one dubious species is from the Late Jurassic. Iguanodon's most distinctive feature was a large razor-sharp 'thumb spike', probably used for defense against predators.

Iguanodon was the first dinosaur recognized and the second dinosaur formally named, described in 1822 by English geologist Gideon Mantell. Together with Megalosaurus and Hylaeosaurus, it was one of the three originally used to define the new classification, Dinosauria. Paleobiology The various Iguanodon species are bulky herbivores, ranging from 6 to 11 metres (20 to 36 feet) in length, and averaging about 5 tonnes (5.5 tons) in weight. Iguanodon's thumb spikes were perpendicular to the three main digits. In early restorations, the spike was placed on the animal's nose. Later fossils revealed the true nature of the thumb spikes, although their exact purpose is still debated. It could have been used for defense, or for foraging for food.....Wikipedia. Dinosaur Depiction on Roman Mosaic at Sepphoris? Click and drag photo to resize. Detail from floor mosaic discovered at Sepphoris. This is a nilotic scene incorporated into the Dionysos Mosaic. Click and drag photo to resize. The mosaic is dated between the first and third centuries.

A great earthquake destroyed Sepphoris in 363 A.D. Note that here warriors/hunters battle the "large reptile" using shields and large rocks. Palestrina Mosaic Entelodont:? Dinohyus? Dinohyus Click and drag photo to resize. Photo:Dinohyus is just our speculation but it appears to be a enteledont rather than a hippo. Dinohyus (meaning "terrible pig") was a large, warthog-like hoofed mammal that lived during the early Miocene, roughly 24 million years ago. This herbivore (it ate plants, including roots) had a long skull (over 1 m = 3 feet long), a small braincase, a pair of knob-like protrusions on the back of the lower jaw (in the cheek area), blunt incisors, and wide, strong canine teeth. Its long legs probably made it a fast runner. The neck was short and stout and there was a hump on the shoulders formed by spines along the backbone. It was about 6 feet (2 m) tall at the shoulders and was the biggest and among the last of the Entelodonts.

Fossils have been found in western North America (including Battle Creek, South Dakota, USA). Classification: Class Mammalia (mammals), Order Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates), Family Entelodontidae (large, pig-like mammals from the Oligocene to early Miocene, including Archaeotherium, Megachoerus, Dinohyus, Entelodon and Eoentelodon), Genus Dinohyus Source: Metareligion Camelops Click and drag photo to resize. Camelops is an extinct genus of camels that once roamed western North America, where it appeared about 45 million years ago. It migrated to Eurasia and Africa around 2 to 3 million years ago, contrary to various other animals that migrated to North America. Its name is derived from the Greek κάμελος (camel) + ὀψ (face), thus "camel-face." Camelops first appeared during the Late Pliocene period and became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene. The reason for its extinction is poorly understood but was part of a larger North American die-off in which native horses, camelids and mastodons also died out.

Because soft tissues are generally not preserved in the fossil record, it is not certain if camelops possessed a hump, like modern camels, or lacked one, like its modern llama relatives....Wikipedia Palestrina Mosaic -Extinct Horse? Pliohippus Click and drag photo to resize. Photo: The tiny horse in the mosaic could represent any of the small tiny horses science believes were ancestors to modern horses. In reality, they were simply part of the genetic variation God built into all creatures, just as there are large and small dogs. "Grandfather" to the modern horse, Pliohippus appears to be the source of the latest radiation in the horse family. It is believed to have given rise to Hippidion and Onohippidion, genera that thrived for a time in South American, and to Dinohippus which in turn led to Equus. Where & When? Fossils of Pliohippus are found at many late Miocene localities in Colorado, the Great Plains of the US (Nebraska and the Dakotas) and Canada. Species in this genus lived from 12-6 million years ago. Did Pliohippus live during the Pliocene?

Or, how do you manage to miss an entire epoch? As incredible as it may sound, recent research shows that Pliohippus and the Pliocene have shrunk in duration so that they completely missed each other! The problem is twofold. First of all, the epochs like the Pliocene and Miocene are all compared to marine sediments in Europe. It is difficult, although not impossible, to compare the ages of horses with British invertebrate fossils. Over the years, refinements in our understanding of the Pliocene have resulted in the shrinking of that epoch. It is now believed to have covered a period ranging from about 5.3 to 1.75 million years ago. It formerly included North American land mammals ages that are now regarded as being late Miocene. Our concept of the genus Pliohippus has also shrunk. In essence, Pliohippus has been split into two genera. Pliohippus now includes horses with large facial depressions in front of their eyes. These lived during the Miocene. The second genus, Dinohippus, includes horses with smaller facial depressions which lived into the Pliocene.

(Equus lacks these depressions.) The shrinking of the Pliocene and Pliohippus has resulted in the unhappy complication that the namesake of the Pliocene did not live during this time period".....Florida Museum of Natural History Palestrina Mosaic -Smilodon? Click and drag photo to resize. Smilodon (IPA: /smailəʊdɑn/, a bahuvrihi from Greek: σμιλη "knife" and (Ionic) οδων "tooth") is an extinct genus of large machairodontine saber-toothed cats that are understood to have lived between approximately 3 million to 10,000 years ago in North and South America. They are the only known successors to Machairodus. Smilodon means knife tooth, an entirely appropriate name given its enormous fangs.

The smilodon species are also known as Saber-Toothed Cats or Saber-Toothed Tigers As many as six species of Smilodon are known to have existed: Smilodon fatalis, 1.6 million-10,000 years ago Smilodon gracilis, 2.5 million-500,000 years ago Smilodon populator, 1 million-10,000 years ago Smilodon neogaeus, 3 million-500,000 years ago Smilodon floridus, may be a subspecies of Smilodon fatalis Smilodon californicus, may be a subspecies of Smilodon fatalis. A fully-grown Smilodon weighed approximately 200 kilograms (450 pounds) and had a short tail, powerful legs and a large head. About the size of a lion, smilodon was extremely powerful. Its jaws could open 120 degrees. Its fangs were about 17 cm (7 inches) long. Many Smilodon fossils have been unearthed at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

The Smilodon is the prehistoric cat that researchers know the most about....Wiipedia Smilodon | Tribe: †Smilodontini Genus: †Smilodon Smilodon is an extinct genus of machairodont felid. It is perhaps the best known saber-toothed felid and lived in North America during the Pleistocene epoch (2.5 mya–10,000 years ago). Several fossils have been found with one of the largest collections taken from the La Brea Tar Pits. Three species of the genus are known and they vary in size and build. Overall, Smilodon was more robustly built than any modern felid, with particularly well-developed forelimbs and exceptionally long upper canines. Its jaw had a bigger gape than modern felid and its upper canines were slender and fragile, being adapted for precision killing. These attributes made Smilodon a specialized hunter of large herbivores like bison and camels. Smilodon likely lived in closed habitats like forests and bush which would have provided cover for ambushing prey. Its reliance on large animals may have been the cause of its extinction. Scientists debate over whether Smilodon was a social animal.

Comparison of predator responses to distress calls and the prevalence of healed injuries suggest it was social, while its small brain size and vegetated habitat suggest it was more solitary. Some fossils show signs of ankylosing spondylitis, trauma and arthritis. Smilodon went extinct 10,000 years ago. Etymology The nickname "saber-tooth" refers to the extreme length of their maxillary canines. Despite the colloquial name "saber-toothed tiger", Smilodon is not closely related to the tiger (or any other living felid); the latter belongs to subfamily Pantherinae, whereas Smilodon belongs to subfamily Machairodontinae. The name Smilodon comes from Greek: σμίλη, (smilē), "carving knife" + ὀδoύς (odoús), "tooth" (whose stem is odont-, as seen in the genitive case form ὀδόντος, odóntos). Classification The genus Smilodon was named and described by the Danish naturalist and palaeontologist Peter Wilhelm Lund in 1842.

He found the fossils of Smilodon populator in caves near the small town of Lagoa Santa, in Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is grouped with several species of saber-toothed cats in the subfamily Machairodontinae within the family Felidae. An early ancient DNA analysis suggested that Smilodon be grouped with modern cats (subfamily Felinae). However, a 2005 study found that Smilodon belonged to a separate lineage. Another study published a year later confirmed this, showing that the Machairodontinae diverged early from the ancestors of modern cats and were not closely related to any living feline species. The skull and mandible morphology of the earliest saber-toothed cats were similar to that of clouded leopards. The lineage further adapted to precision killing of large animals with elongated canine teeth and wider gapes, in the process sacrificing high bite force. Smilodon belongs to the tribe Smilodontini, which are known as "dirk-toothed cats". These cats were defined by their long slender canines with fine serrations. Species A number of Smilodon species have been described, but today usually only three are recognized.

Smilodon gracilis, 2.5 million–500,000 years ago; the smallest and earliest species, estimated at 55 to 100 kg (120 to 220 lb) in weight was the successor of Megantereon in North America, from which it probably evolved. This species reached the north of South America in the early Pleistocene, along with Homotherium. The other Smilodon species probably derived from this species. As its specific name suggests, this species is the most lightly built of the genus. Smilodon fatalis, 1.6 million–10,000 years ago, replaced S. gracilis in North America and invaded western South America as part of the Great American Interchange. In terms of size, it was intermediate between S. gracilis and S. populator. It ranged from 160 to 280 kg (350 to 620 lb) and reached a shoulder height of 100 cm (39 in) and body length of 175 cm (69 in). Sometimes two additional species are recognized, S. californicus and S.

floridanus, but usually they are considered to be junior synonyms of S. fatalis. Smilodon populator, 1 million–10,000 years ago; occurred in the eastern parts of South America and was larger than the North American species. It is perhaps the largest known felid, with a body mass range of 220 to 400 kg (490 to 880 lb). It stood at a shoulder height of 120 cm (47 in). Compared to S. fatalis, S. populator had a more elongated and narrow skull, higher positioned nasals, more massive metapodials and slightly longer forelimbs relative to hindlimbs. Smilodon fatalis compared to Bengal Tiger Description Smilodon was around the size of a modern lion or tiger, but was more robustly built. It had a reduced lumbar region, high scapula, short tail, broad limbs with relatively short feet and long canines. The brain of Smilodon was relatively small compared to other cat species.

In reconstructing the facial appearance of Smilodon, Miller (1969) proposed that it looked very different from a typical cat: having a lower lip line (to allow its mouth to open so wide without tearing the facial tissues), a more retracted nose and lower placed ears. However this is disputed, and Antón, et al., (1998) write that the facial features of Smilodon were overall no different than that of other cats. There is some dispute over whether Smilodon was sexually dimorphic. Some studies of Smilodon fatalis fossils have found little difference between the sexes. Conversely a 2012 study found that while fossils of S. fatalis show less variation in size among individuals than modern Panthera, they do appear to show the same difference between the sexes in some traits. Limbs Smilodon had shorter and more massive limbs than other felids. It had well developed flexors and extensors in its forearms, which enabled it to pull down and securely hold down large prey so it could deliver a killing bite without endangering the vulnerable elongate canines. Analysis of the cross-sections of S.

fatalis humeri indicated that they were strengthened by cortical thickening to such an extent that they would have been able to sustain greater loading than those of extant big cats, or of the extinct American lion. However, the thickening of S. fatalis femurs was within the range of extant felids. The heel bone of Smilodon was fairly long which suggests it was a good jumper. Teeth and jaws Smilodon is most famous for its relatively long canines, which are the longest found in the saber-toothed cats, at about 28 cm (11 in) long in the largest species Smilodon populator. Those of S. fatalis reached their full size in 18 months at a growth rate of 7 mm/month. These canine teeth were slender and had fine serrations. They were fragile and could not have bitten into bone; thus, these cats did not use their long teeth while taking down prey, due to the risk of breaking. Only when their prey was totally subdued did they use their teeth to slash the throat. Despite being more powerfully built than other large cats, Smilodon actually had a weaker bite.

Modern big cats have more pronounced zygomatic arches, while Smilodon had smaller zygomatic arches which restricted the thickness and therefore power of the temporalis muscles, and thus reduced Smilodon's bite force. Analysis of its narrow jaws indicates it could produce a bite only a third as strong as that of a lion. There seems to a be a general rule that the saber-toothed cats with the largest canines had proportionally weaker bites. However, analyses of canine bending strength (the ability of the canine teeth to resist bending forces without breaking) and bite forces indicate that the saber-toothed cats' teeth were stronger relative to the bite force than those of modern "big cats". In addition, Smilodon's gape could have reached almost 120 degrees, while that of the modern lion reaches 65 degrees. This makes the gape wide enough to allow Smilodon to grasp large prey despite the long canines. 128° gape Paleoecology Smilodon was perhaps the most recent of the saber-toothed cats and lived during the Pleistocene epoch (2.5 mya–10,000 years ago).

Fossils of the genus have been found throughout the Americas. In particular, numerous specimens have been discovered in the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California and the Talara Tar Seeps in Peru. Smilodon likely lived in "closed" habitat (forest and bush). Hunting Smilodon was an apex predator and primarily hunted large mammals like bison, camels, ground sloths, horses and mastodons. Isotopes preserved in the bones of S. fatalis in the La Brea Tar Pits reveal that ruminants like bison and camels were most commonly taken by the cats. In addition, isotopes preserved in the enamel of S. gracilis specimens from Florida show that this species feed on the pig-like Platygonus and the llama-like Hemiauchenia. Isotopic studies of dire wolf and American lion bones show an overlap with S. fatalis in prey, which suggests that they were competitors. The amount of prey available to these predators in the La brea area was likely comparable to modern East Africa. Smilodon was likely an ambush predator and concealed itself in dense vegetation.

It probably used its great upper-body strength to wrestle prey to the ground, where its long canines could deliver a deep stabbing bite to the throat which would generally cut through the jugular vein and/or the trachea and thus kill the prey very quickly. By contrast, modern cats kill large prey with a suffocating bite. An alternate hypothesis suggests that Smilodon targeted the belly of its prey. However, this is disputed as the curvature of their prey's belly would likely have prevented the cat from getting a good bite. Smilodon probably avoided eating bone and would have left enough food for scavengers. Smilodon itself may have scavenged dire wolf kills. Social behavior Scientists debate whether Smilodon was social. One study of African predators found that social predators like lions, spotted hyenas respond more to the distress calls of prey than solitary species. Since Smilodon fatalis fossils are common at the La Brea Tar Pits and were likely attracted by the distress calls of stuck prey, this could mean that La Brea S. fatalis were social as well.

Critics claim the study neglects other factors, such as body mass (heavier animals are more likely to get stuck then lighter ones), intelligence (some social animals like the American lion may have avoided the tar because they were better able to recognize the hazard), lack of visual and olfactory lures, the type of audio lure, and the length of the distress calls (the actual distress calls of the trapped prey animals would have lasted longer than the calls used in the study). In addition, they note that solitary cats like tigers are known to aggregate around a single carcass. The authors of the original study have responded to these criticisms. Another argument for sociality is based on the healed injuries in several Smilodon fossils which would suggest that the animals needed others to provide it food. This argument has been questioned, as cats can recover quickly from even severe bone damage and an injured Smilodon could survive as long as it had access to water. Some researchers have argued that Smilodon's brain would have been too small for it to have been a social animal. However, an analysis of brain size in living big cats found no correlation between brain size and sociality.

Another argument against Smilodon being social is based on it being an ambush hunter in closed habitat which would likely have negated sociality. Whether Smilodon was sexually dimorphic has implications for its reproductive behavior. Based on their conclusions that Smilodon fatalis had no sexual dimorphism, Van Valenburgh and Sacco (2002) suggest that if the cats were social they would likely have lived in monogamous pairs (along with offspring) with no intense competition among males for females. Likewise, Meachen-Samuels and Binder (2010) conclude that aggression between males was less pronounced in S. fatalis than the American lion. However, Christiansen and Harris (2012) find that as S. fatalis did exhibit some sexual dimorphism, there would have been evolutionary selection for competition between males. In recent years, Smilodon cubs have been found in tar pits close to the Rancho La Brea site, near the bones of larger adults. Unlike the mature specimens, juvenile Smilodon had smaller saber teeth which were used more for cutting flesh away from bones than killing prey.

This likely implies that they were coming in to feed after the adults had made a kill and fed on parts of the kill that were inaccessible to the adults. In attempting to feed, the cubs and subadults would also become mired and starve to death. This behavior was recently revealed in popular culture in the first episode of the 2013 BBC documentary miniseries "Ice Age Giants". Paleopathology Several Smilodon fossils show signs of ankylosing spondylitis, hyperostosis and trauma; some also had arthritis which gave them fused vertebrae. One study of 1,000 Smilodon skulls found that 30% of them had eroded parietal bones, which is where the largest jaw muscles attach. They also showed signs of microfractures, and the weakening and thinning of bones possibly caused by mechanical stress from the constant need to make stabbing motions with the canines. Extinction Smilodon went extinct 10,000 years ago, along with most of the Pleistocene megafauna, in the Quaternary extinction event.

Its extinction may be linked to the decline and extinction of large herbivores, which were replaced by smaller and more agile ones like deer, hence Smilodon could have been too specialized at hunting large prey and may have been unable to adapt. However, a 2012 study of Smilodon tooth wear found no evidence that they were limited by food resources. Other explanations include climate change and competition with humans. Sources Other Saber-tooths - How Saber-tooth Cats Worked | HowStuffWorks Dorling Kindersley/ Getty Images There are several reasons why many people think of the Smilodon genus when they think about saber-tooth cats, even if they're not familiar with the scientific name. One is the wealth of Smilodon fossils , which has given scientists and museums lots of material for study. Most of these fossils were found in the Rancho La Brea tar pits in California . Saber-tooth cats are one of the most common mammal fossils found in this naturally-occurring tar. However, in spite of the wealth of saber-tooth fossils found there, entrapment in the tar wasn't all that common. The fossils in La Brea accumulated over about 25,000 years.

Smilodon cats are also well known because they're the saber-tooth cats that lived on Earth most recently. They shared the planet with other familiar ice-age mammals like woolly mammoths, mastodons and ground sloths. All these animals were extinct by about 10,000 years ago due to a number of factors, including climate change, terrain change and human hunting. The Smilodon cats most likely became extinct because their primary source of food -- mammals that were larger than the cats themselves -- died out. The cats weren't fast or agile enough to catch smaller prey, leading to their eventual extinction. Up Next How Anthropology Works Another genus of saber-tooth cat lived at the same time as the Smilodon variety. These were the Homotherium cats, which had shorter, flatter teeth. Some paleontologists describe them as scimitar cats. These cats had a slightly larger range than the Smilodon genus. Homotherium cats lived in Africa, Europe, Asia and North America. They became extinct about 11,500 years ago.

Even though a walrus's canines are distinctively long, they're known as tusks, James Balog/ Getty Images Researchers have found much older saber-tooth cats in several clay-lined caves near Madrid , Spain . Like the La Brea tar pits, these caves have provided scientists with lots of well-preserved fossil samples. The cats found there are from the genus Paramachairodus -- oldest genus of saber-tooth cats on the planet -- and the genus Machairodus. These were large cats, but their teeth were shorter than those of the Smilodon genus. These cats lived around 9 million years ago. These are just a few of the many extinct carnivores that have evolved saber teeth. There are no saber-tooth cats alive today, but there are a few animals with dramatically long canine teeth. One example is the walrus, which uses its long tusks for everything from social displays to moving on ice. But although these are modified canines, they aren't quite the same as saber teeth because they're rounded rather than flattened from side to side. However, as living species go, they may be the closest thing you'll see to a pair of saber teeth.

Follow the links on the next page to find lots more resources on saber-tooth cats, fossils, dinosaurs and other extinct animals. Man-eating Saber-tooths Megantereon, a saber-tooth cat that lived in South Africa about 2.5 million years ago, may have included early humans among its prey. SMILODON VS AMERICAN LION VS AMUR TIGER in Prehistoric Animals Forum Posts: 146 Fri, Aug 14, 2009 12:56 PM First to be eliminated is the American Lion. It is built identical to the African Lion of today, only 25% larger. It has no potential to contest the top cats in history. It cannot balance on its hindlegs, weak limbs, no mobility, no agility, no leverage....etc. Between the Siberian Tiger and Smilodon Populator, it is hard to say. The Smilodon is stronger, but he can't really use his jaws. His sabres can easily be broken by a slight jab of the Siberian. If the Smilodon was built like a bear, then of course he can balance on its hindlegs.

The Siberian can kill the Smilodon with a neck bite, if he can catch him. But the Smilodon can bruise the Siberian more with its powerful swipes. If he was built like bear, then ideally, the Siberian has the speed and mobility advantage. But in the end, it is hard to determine the outcome since the Smilodon is an extinct animal, and we have never seen it fight before. Interact Fri, Aug 14, 2009 3:44 PM Kaplan, You clearly know very little about American lions and the extant Panthera leo. Recent genetic studies show that American lions were likely not true lions, but still belonged to the genus Panthera. Not only this, but American and Cave lions were both much larger than tigers (the 25% figure you give applies to tigers too, it's only that lions and tigers are so similar in size that experts generally refer to the more widely known lion). In their book Big Cats: Kingdom of Might Tom Brakefield and Alan Shoemaker state that American lions also had 25% longer limb length, skull length, teeth size.

This length figure means that we could use volume instead of mass, and 1.25^3 is an algebraic expression that can be used to find out how much heavier American lions were than extant lions or tigers, which is about twice as much. Not only this, but they also had bones that were proportionally more robust than their modern cousins, indicating powerful animals (this is not unlikely, given that most animals of the Pleistocene were quite massive). Also provide a source that American lions have poor leverage; African lions have very similar leverage as tigers in regard to the tricep brachii muscles, if you are inferring from modern lions, than this implies that tigers have poor leverage as well. In fact, both Smilodon populator and the American lion were much heavier than even the heaviest cats of today (in terms of average sized specimens), and so comparing them in a manner as if the Amur tiger can simply outflank and kill them is ridiculous; larger tigers tend to dominate smaller ones, and this would presumably hold true for felines of distinct species'.

Roflcopters, Barbary lions went extinct due to human hunting; the last known wild specimen was shot in North Africa early in the 1920s. Not only this, but your inability to even differentiate an extinct, much larger species of big cat which is only, based on lack of genetic data, more closely related to modern lions by name than tigers is a clear demonstration of lack of understanding. Quit making a fool of yourself by throwing in inerdute comments within various threads in an attempt to make yourself feel good through attacking the animals of those who disagree with your opinion(s) favor. EDIT: Posts: 1797 Sat, Aug 15, 2009 7:47 AM This is why we have problems on this board and the reason why i visit here less often these days. Posters like Fallen Monk believing the Amur Tiger superior to the American Lion, being a classic example of Tiger fanboyism and utter ignorance of facts. We know that the American Lion was the largest Cat of all time.

The Smith has documented its weight at 1100lbs for a prime example which is more than twice the weight of the Modern Lion and a full 1/3rd allround bigger, witha huge skull. It would therefore utterly crush an Amur Tiger, being a naturally occurring bigger animal. Smilodon Populator was even more massively built but shorter and lower bodied. Its debateable that its tusks would have been able to battle better than modern day Canines. At a guess, they would have had some advantage and some disadvantage. Probable advantages in spearing and stabbing moves but not so practical for strangulation holds. Maybe they used the mouth open, with exposed tusks presented forward as stabbing tools and for display. In a clinch they may have had slightly more grappling power but there is nothing....repeat nothing, to suggest that either of these critters would lose to the relatively thinner and smaller Amur. Interact Posts: 146 Sat, Aug 15, 2009 8:01 AM The weight of 1000lb, 1100 lb american lions may be highly exaggerated. American lions are generally said to be 25% larger than today's lions.

That would roughly equal to the size of modern bengal tigers, but with longer limbs, slightly longer body, American lions might have appeared like overgrown cheetah. With smaller canine than Siberian tiger, it doesn't have any advantage over siberian tiger. It is the fight between Smilodon Vs Siberian tiger is worth discussing. Both are built like bears. Siberian tiger limbs are closer to Smilodon. It should be close fight, although i will give edge to Siberian tiger. Maharaja of Bandhavgarh - Young B2 Interact Posts: 1797 Sat, Aug 15, 2009 12:36 PM The size of the average American Lion at 900lbs was not exaggerated at all but based on scientific fact. One of the specimens has a backbone and shoulder sub section which equates to animal 1/3rd larger than any living Lion or Tiger. Another skull (the most massive cat skull all time) has suggested specimens upto 1100lbs (Alan Curshall Smithsonian) Bigcats and their relatives and Smithsonian peer reviewed work paper Cats of the Tarpits.

The American Lion was the largest cat of all time, followed by the European Cave lion. These are facts that are being bent by crooked Fanboys. The reality......Amur Tigers have not presented a wild 500lb plus cat for some years, while the Bengal species may hit 600lb in exceedingly rare cases. Primary specimens such as Genghis, Charger and Scar were all around 500lb to 550lb while this B2 may have their edge by 50lbs. Its a fine cat but about it for the species. Interact Posts: 146 Sat, Aug 15, 2009 2:41 PM American lion weights had been recalculated by more advanced methods in recent times. According to GrizzlyClaws's latest data, it averages about 300 kg. But, other sources state, american lions are 25% larger than today's lion and averaged about 235 kg. So, it seems American lions might have averaged somewhere between 235-300 kg. 900 lb may be maximum size of largest specimen, but can't be average.

What about Trinil tiger Which seems to be larger than both American lion and Smilodon ? Eight individual body mass estimates can be derived from specimens from the Ngandong faunal level. At that level, individual body mass estimates vary from 131 kg to 470 kg, the largest being 3.6 times larger than the smallest one. (Credit to GrizzlyClaws for the source) Maharaja of Bandhavgarh - Young B2 Interact Sat, Aug 15, 2009 2:48 PM fallenmonk wrote: If one is matching Smilodon and American Lion with the Amur Tiger, then match them with the Amur Tiger of their era. There is enough reason to believe that when the availability of large prey was high in the Amur region (i.e, when man had not touched the virgin forests), Amur Tigers averaged much larger than now - perhaps around 300 kg for males. Their genes show the capacity to grow to very large size, as seen in captive specimen. I agree. It is unfair to compare modern wild Amurs with pre-historic cats.

Until last century even 400 kg wild Amur tigers were reported. Imagine their size 100-150 years before when humans didn't invade their forest . Maharaja of Bandhavgarh - Young B2 Interact Sat, Aug 15, 2009 3:29 PM B2 Fan wrote: Let us leave the Ngandong Tigers out of this. It is unfair to any cat specie, extinct or extant, to be compared with the Ngandong. It is simply unfair. The person who posted this data suggested that 478.6 kg may have been the maximum for these species. But according to the laws of probability, it is virtually impossible for just a low figure to be the max. In the 2 tables we are presented with only 15 individual of Ngandong tigers specimens found. Only 15. The odds of finding the largest individual that ever lived for an entire specie out of only 15 individuals is virtually zero. Then we can conclude the max must be much hihger.

In fact, the law of probablity suggest that 470 kg may actually be only the average for the adult male specimens. Out of the 15 individuals, half of it was female. That leave 7.5 males only. We know that adult males are the minority of the male specimens because territory animals don't reach adult hood often. Based on modern tigers, I'll say only 25% of that 7.5 is fully grown males. That means out of entire 15 individuals, only about 2 are fully matured males. Of course, the largest of the 15 individuals must be the fully matured males. And they are:

Question: What other, non-scientific, name is given to the extinct smilodon?
Answer: Sabre-toothed Tiger